bobsledding

bobsledding, winter sport in which a bobsled—a partially enclosed vehicle with steerable sledlike runners, accommodating two or four persons—hurtles down a course of iced, steeply banked, twisting inclines. A driver and three bobbers, the last one being the brakeman, compose a four-member crew. A two-person sled consists of a driver and the brakeman. A group of American and English vacationers at St. Moritz, Switzerland, developed the sport, an offspring of tobogganing, in the late 19th cent. A part of the Winter Olympic games since their inception in 1924, bobsledding is a sport of exhilarating but dangerous speed (up to 90 mi/145 km per hr). Winners rely on technical sled design, powerful push-offs at the start, and intimate course knowledge to gain split second advantages. Though Americans fared well in early Olympic bobsledding, since 1960, the Swiss, Germans, Italians, and Austrians have tended to dominate the medals. Women's bobsledding was added to the Olympics in 2002.

Sport of sliding down a winding ice-covered run on a large metal sled (bobsled). The sled is equipped with two pairs of runners, a long seat for two or more (usually four) people, a steering wheel or steering ropes, and a hand brake. Bobsledding originated in Switzerland in the 1890s and was included in the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924. Championship competitions are held each year. Bob runs are typically about 4,920 ft (1,500 m) long, with 15–20 banked turns. Four-person sleds attain speeds approaching 100 mph (160 kph).

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See Bobsleigh